In commemoration of the 2nd anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, I am writing to invite you and your colleagues to hear, firsthand, the powerful stories of heartache, survival and hope of people living in the shadow of the world’s most devastating nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
Public Forum:
March 12, 2013
11am
The Premier’s Hall – Qld Parliament House
Alice St & George St, Brisbane
As the reactors continue to pose a risk to the environment, townships remain evacuated and the public looks for answers, a delegation of Fukushima survivors will tour Australia to share their stories and link our communities, from one end of the nuclear cycle to the other.
Mr Hasegawa is a veteran dairy farmer, and Chair of the Fukushima Prefecture Dairy Farmers Union. Yet as his milk cannot be sold since the disaster, he was forced to first pump and dispose of the milk, and then give up the cows which had formed his livelihood until then. After the population of Iitate was evacuated Mr Hasegawa remained in the village looking after what was left, and recording the situation with photographs and video to give testimony about the reality of the Fukushima disaster. He is now living in temporary housing in Date City, Fukushima Prefecture.
HASEGAWA KENICHI (JPN): Mr Hasegawa (mentioned above) is also the leader of Maeda District in Iitate Village, which has been totally evacuated following the nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011. See Mr Hasegawa’s story here: http://vimeo.com/37987872
AKIRA KAWASAKI (JPN): Akira Kawasaki is an Executive Committee member of the Tokyo-based NGO Peace Boat, and a Co-Chair of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). After the 11 March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster, he initiated Peace Boat’s activities to help children of Fukushima and was Conference Director of the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World in January 2012. He lectures at Keisen University, Tokyo, and frequently writes in Japanese newspapers and journals.
TOMOHIRO MATSUOKA (AUS): Accompanying the tour from within Australia is Mr Tomohiro Matsuoka, from the Melbourne based organization, Japanese for Peace.
Our event will also include speakers from Electrical Trades Union and Friends of the Earth/Qld Nuclear Free Alliance.
Australian uranium was used in the reactors at Fukushima. As the Qld government considers it plans to open a uranium mining industry in this state, the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster serves as a timely reminder of the real dangers of the nuclear industry.
We look forward to seeing you at the forum and to working with you to ensure that Queensland never fuels a Fukushima.
Thank you,
Robin Taubenfeld
Friends of the Earth Brisbane/ Qld Nuclear Free Alliance
Mbl 0411 118 737
Peace Convergence 
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